Much like the Wii before it, the Wii U will carve out its own niche, opines Sony boss, Shuhei Yoshida.

The Wii was very much the black sheep of the last console cycle. Despite technically being a part of the same generation as the PS3 and 360, the console more closely resembled the PS2 and original Xbox in terms of graphical power. Despite the hardware handicap - Chris Hecker famously described it as "Two Gamecubes duct taped together" - the Wii absolutely dominated the market thanks to an innovative, casual-friendly control scheme and lower price point. The Wii was the clear victor in the seventh generation console wars, but Sony Worldwide Studios president, Shuhei Yoshida, seems to be trying to get it excluded from the competition on a technicality.

"Personally, I have always thought Wii was in a generation of its own," he told Eurogamer ."I always thought PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are in the same generation, but Wii was not the same."

"To me, the industry was growing really fast when those three platforms came up because the focus is so different. The PS3 and the 360 were the closest in terms of high definition and networked services. But Wii carved out a large niche to itself. To me, it was like two generations going at the same time."

"Wii U is the next generation of Wii," he added. "That I understand. To me, it's its own generation."

While the Wii U is supposedly slightly more capable than the Xbox 360 and PS3, it seems unlikely that it'll be able to match Microsoft and Sony's next-gen efforts in terms of hardware. Whether that actually matters remains to be seen.

I still think the tablet controller looks awful and the XBox ripoff has the thumbsticks in the wrong places. This will probably be another Nintendo home console I won't give a damn about. Never was a fan of Nintendo's first party games anyway.

Ah yes, Sony hates admitting they lost so they're just gonna say everybody else isn't actually competing with them so they always win. Unless Sony is beating them of course, then they're competing with them. Sony is such a sore loser.

Revnak:Ah yes, Sony hates admitting they lost so they're just gonna say everybody else isn't actually competing with them so they always win. Unless Sony is beating them of course, then they're competing with them. Sony is such a sore loser.

I've been meaning to ask, is your avatar of someone holding the decapitated head of an elf?

OT: I rather like that description of "two gamecubes taped together", though to be fair I think that's almost an insult to the gamecube. Nintendo is really gonna have to bring the razzle and dazzle with the WiiU if I'm ever going to buy it; thus far they've failed to produce either. Least they seem to be slowly moving away from that stupid waggle remote.

Actually, that explanation makes a lot of sense. Nintendo's cool, i guess, but it cannot compare to Sony and MS in terms of power, graphics, online multiplayer, etc. So it is its own generation. Well said, sir.

The problem is that Nintendo has a specific market in mind. They try to keep a clean and family-friendly appearance for the most part. That's fine. But on the other hand, you have Sony and MS that attempts to draw everyone in: Casual gamers, hardcore gamers, kids, families, etc. They kinda horde the market. And that's actually pretty smart. It opens up doors for kids who will eventually grow up and might become more than casual gamers.

I see Nintendo as some sort of goody-two-shoes kid who refuses to admit that he needs to change and blames it on the world because they changed. Everything was fine before the cool kids started invading the playground. So THEY should change or gtfo, not Nintendo.

I still think the tablet controller looks awful and the XBox ripoff has the thumbsticks in the wrong places.

With regard to thumbsticks....its because of patents.

Im buying it because its the newest thing out there and because black ops 2 is reportedly coming to it. Since it is a new console...im hoping not to see any hackers/cheaters/little weewees in online multiplaying. Then when new systems come out in a year or two...I can sell the wii u on ebay and buy again the newest thing out there.

frankly i'm tired of people saying "so what" when they are doing it now, as if saying that serves any particular purpose

if anything the other guys should be a little wary of what could happen given that they aren't really rolling in innovation right now and are at a low point in the cycle, and now that nintendo is ready to give it another shot, the cards are being held so close that nobody knows what's coming, and a possible victory for nintendo at their later press event could be very damaging to the holiday prospects for everybody else

nintendo's working their control freak angle to make sure that the goods are delivered on their terms, and even though that's hurt them before, now that they've got a bunch of big names back on their side, they're almost ready to go

Revnak:Ah yes, Sony hates admitting they lost so they're just gonna say everybody else isn't actually competing with them so they always win. Unless Sony is beating them of course, then they're competing with them. Sony is such a sore loser.

it's true, but he's also completely right. I think most people compartmented the two things years ago.

I mean it doesn't feel like the Wii stole market share from the other two, because frankly no Wii games were ever released that even slightly interested the majority of 360, PS3 players except for the Nintendo fallbacks. Even then, there are lots of people who'd prefer to play Halo than Zelda. In contrast almost every game a 360 or PS3er plays is also played or wanted to be played by the people of the other console.

Revnak:Ah yes, Sony hates admitting they lost so they're just gonna say everybody else isn't actually competing with them so they always win. Unless Sony is beating them of course, then they're competing with them. Sony is such a sore loser.

Something being different from the norm doesn't make it a different generation, just makes it... Different. Eh, it hardly matters in the slightest anyway, if y'all wanna think that a console is of a separate generation have at it, I'll just look at important things like quality of experience.

Beautiful End:I see Nintendo as some sort of goody-two-shoes kid who refuses to admit that he needs to change and blames it on the world because they changed. Everything was fine before the cool kids started invading the playground. So THEY should change or gtfo, not Nintendo.

To use a people metaphor, I've always seen Nintendo as a Primary school teacher who's job it is to get kids to enjoy school and make sure they have fun until they're old enough for secondary school where all the big, cool kids hang out. Its not the teachers job to follow the kids, but to be there for the next generation. Without Nintendo and them forcing Microsoft and Sony to go to the casual, more kid friendly market who would create games for kids to get them interested in games in the fist place?

OT: Didn't Microsoft or Sony say last generation that they didn't see Nintendo as real competition as they were going after separate markets?

Beautiful End:I see Nintendo as some sort of goody-two-shoes kid who refuses to admit that he needs to change and blames it on the world because they changed. Everything was fine before the cool kids started invading the playground. So THEY should change or gtfo, not Nintendo.

To use a people metaphor, I've always seen Nintendo as a Primary school teacher who's job it is to get kids to enjoy school and make sure they have fun until they're old enough for secondary school where all the big, cool kids hang out. Its not the teachers job to follow the kids, but to be there for the next generation. Without Nintendo and them forcing Microsoft and Sony to go to the casual, more kid friendly market who would create games for kids to get them interested in games in the fist place?

OT: Didn't Microsoft or Sony say last generation that they didn't see Nintendo as real competition as they were going after separate markets?

Did you know that kids learn from their older siblings more than they do from people trying to teach them?

A child with older siblings will learn to talk faster than one without in most cases. Apply that to video games, little Bobby doesn't want to play kid games, he wants to play what his older brother is playing. Try to remember, did you ever prefer a VTech to a PS1?

i don't think i'd say that nintendo was the winner of this console generation, not buy a long shot. it sold more units, sure. but i think more than that has to be considered. things like games sold for that console show what the multi-console owners prefer, hours logged playing the console, hours logged playing online. the success of the online service, these things are all more important than consoles actually sold. nintendo's price point alone guaranteed more sales, but i can tell you that in EVERY SINGLE household i know that has a wii as well as another console, the wii hasn't been touched in years. that's just my personal experience and observation, but i know i'm not alone in that.

i'm predicting that the Wii U will be nintendo's last non-handheld console. they will become a handheld company, which is okay, because that's what they do best these days, no other company has ever successfully competed with nintendo in that market, despite superior capabilities. (game gear was way better, and i'll fight anyone who says otherwise.)

martyrdrebel27:i don't think i'd say that nintendo was the winner of this console generation, not buy a long shot. it sold more units, sure. but i think more than that has to be considered. things like games sold for that console show what the multi-console owners prefer, hours logged playing the console, hours logged playing online. the success of the online service, these things are all more important than consoles actually sold. nintendo's price point alone guaranteed more sales, but i can tell you that in EVERY SINGLE household i know that has a wii as well as another console, the wii hasn't been touched in years. that's just my personal experience and observation, but i know i'm not alone in that.

i'm predicting that the Wii U will be nintendo's last non-handheld console. they will become a handheld company, which is okay, because that's what they do best these days, no other company has ever successfully competed with nintendo in that market, despite superior capabilities. (game gear was way better, and i'll fight anyone who says otherwise.)

So in 5-10 years when Nintendo Console #7 comes out, will you be saying the same thing? Video games are the only thing Nintendo does, and I think they do them better than almost anyone else. The type of gamer who goes online might not have them as their favorite company, but look at how many people bought the Wii. It was hardly a fluke that Nintendo decided to completely change the way they designed consoles and then had a massive explosion of sales before making a "safer" console with the Wii-U.

If it is its own gen then why is Sony and Microsoft trying to cash in on motion controls, Mii rip-offs and pretty much everything else unique Nintendo did with the Wii. Considering how successful Nintendo had been versus its two competitors and the fact that Microsoft and Sony gave it their all to leech some of that demographic I think its somewhat disrespectful and ignorant to put it off on its own and say its irrelevant to them.

That's a pretty accurate statement. I own a PS3 and a Wii, they're completely different systems. I wouldn't buy both a PS3 and XBox360. Wii U has a lot of potential, short on games to capitalize on it at the moment, but new consoles usually are.

All I hear is bitter disappointment that the Wii did better than they suspected.

Fappy:If it is its own gen then why is Sony and Microsoft trying to cash in on motion controls, Mii rip-offs and pretty much everything else unique Nintendo did with the Wii. Considering how successful Nintendo had been versus its two competitors and the fact that Microsoft and Sony gave it their all to leech some of that demographic I think its somewhat disrespectful and ignorant to put it off on its own and say its irrelevant to them.